Much of my time is spent thinking and reading about corporate strategy. This is important because my day job industry, financial services, is being actively disrupted. Like the PC industry was disrupted by Apple’s iPhone and the taxi industry was disrupted by Uber, the relative comfort enjoyed by banks in financial services is being disrupted by technology companies. It feels increasingly like we must change or die.
As I split my work (versus family) time between thinking about financial services strategy and thinking about the first novel, I’ve begun to see parallels. Maybe you see them, too? Here are two examples:
You are never not in competition for ongoing success
I often talk to people who have, at their unacknowledged core, a desire for life/business to be easy. Admittedly, don’t we all? Wouldn’t it be great if we could put a little energy into something unique or brilliant and then reap the benefits of that energy forever? Yes, you might say, and that’s one reason I’m in pursuit of royalties by being a successful author. Examples abound of artists who make a living based on their past work. Right? Yes, but not really. So, no. Earning 15 minutes of fame may seem like an end goal, but without consistent effort it only lasts 15 minutes! That’s the message in the aphorism.
Keeping the royalties flowing or the earnings growing requires new books/products, more marketing, more effort. Why do you think so many once-popular bands do tours when they’re in their 50s, 60s and 70s? It isn’t just because they like it. It’s also because they get a two-fer by touring: the income from the tour and royalties from a variety of sources for their past work. In short, to remain successful requires adaptation and ongoing effort. A similar dynamic is at work when a formerly successful businessperson begins work as a consultant. If the consultant sits at home hoping the contracts will just flow in, he or she won’t be a consultant for long. New challenges await in order to reap the benefits of that past success.
True, it is possible to turn an initial effort into enough initial success to be financially set for life. But initial success is not the same as ongoing success. Resting on your laurels means losing any advantage you built, whether writing or in business.
Focus on your strengths to avoid degrading the value of your efforts
The great majority of businesses have no well-defined strategy. Maybe they started out doing a single thing, but years of saying yes to opportunities made the business a hodgepodge of tangentially related activities. There can be success without strategy, of course, but success is easier to maintain and avoid destroying when a strategy is at the core of the business. And understanding your current strategy is very important when trying to determine whether a change in direction will be successful.
The same is true of writing novels. For example, my first novel currently in process started with a tone that I really wanted to stick. I absolutely love funny. On my commute to and from the office, I listen to comedy. The wife and I go to comedy shows on dates. A reasonably large percentage of the books I read are funny. My favorite author today is Christopher Moore and my favorite author growing up was Douglas Adams. So my book was gonna be funny, come hell or high water.
Now that I’ve shook hands with the devil and am wringing out my clothes, I have to admit that I’m mildly amusing but not so much to be a funny author. Realizing that as I drafted the first novel, I ditched whole sections of the early manuscript and re-wrote several scenes. There’s still an element of humor but I think I’ve found the tone that is natural for me and thus sustainable. It took some introspection to get to this point, which was disappointing and mildly painful.
Consider another example: if someone asked me to write a military sci-fi novel, I’d produce utter crap. Why? Because I have no military background or predilection, so military sci-fi isn’t my strength. Identifying your strengths and focusing on them is key to being a successful author (and businessperson). If, like the the company that doesn’t understand its current strategy, I held onto the unreasonable belief that military sci-fi was in my wheelhouse, I’d put enormous effort into something that failed and might not understand why.
This isn’t to say that you won’t learn new things and be a different author at the end than when you started. We all learn new skills and develop new interests. Adaptation is critical, but be who you are now and that will give you the opportunity to be who you will be later.